Mad, bad and dangerous to know

Monday 10 March 2008 00:00 BST

High on low-life lunacy: stand-up comic Rick Shapiro

One of the most compelling acts at the Edinburgh Festival last year was wild-eyed American Rick Shapiro. Onstage this ex-junkie, ex-prostitute raged, ranted and rambled about the lurid low-life behaviour that had messed him up.

Making his London debut, the wiry, wired stand-up was a little more controlled on Friday. He stuck to the script, for, ooh, at least the first 10 minutes. After that his notes went AWOL, replaced by a chaotic freestyle monologue that plumbed depths and hit heights. As self-destructive performers go, this combustible character takes some beating. Medication may have had something to do with it.

"I'm on more drugs now than when I was on drugs," he half-joked as he recalled nihilistic relationships, roach-ridden motels, near-death experiences and previous bad gigs.

One memorably bizarre occasion was a booking at a Kansas old people's home, where he witnessed some of the slowest walk-outs he'd ever had.

At Soho there were also walk-outs, which was understandable. This dark, abrasive, crude comedy is not for everyone but there is stiletto-sharp wit lurking here.

Russell Brand has shown that amoral debauchery can be hugely marketable and Shapiro has the same love of language, the same confessional approach, even the same spindly trousers.

Already an intriguing attraction, less babbling and more focus would work wonders.